For a team that is 5-2 in the ACC with 5 Top 50 wins (if you throw #52 Syr), its strange to see them with an RPI so low, at 93.
Clemson has only lost twice since Christmans, at UNC and at UVa, big deal. They are one of the hottest teams in college basketball. Watching the pregame before Pitt/Louisville, Dan Dakich and the other announcer (forget who) were arguing because Dakich was pretty much saying Clemson was one of the best teams in college basketball given who they have beaten. I wouldn't go that far but they certainly have the "look" of a strong NCAA seed, 5, 6, 7 something like that.
But their RPI is so low, so I wondered why.
8-5 in the non-con certainly didn't help. They lost to 3 good SEC teams in December (SC, UGa, Bama), all with RPIs at 59 or better but also lost to UMass (171) and Minnesota (215) in November. Those 5 losses are very costly We all want Pitt to play a tougher schedule but Clemson has shown what could happen if you do. If you lose them all, which they did, you have to rip it up in conference, which they are doing.
Perhaps bigger for Clemson, was they scheduled their "guarantee" games very poorly. All 8 OOC wins have RPIs of 220 or worse and 3 have RPIs worse than 300. That is killing them
1-5 against Power 10 conference schools in the non-con (they beat Rutgers if you count them)
7-0 against teams with RPIs worse than 220
5-2 in the league with 5 wins over teams rated better than 52. Only losses at UNC, at UVa
Clemson is very good and this would be a great win if we can get it. If you're Clemson though, you probably need it worse than we do. They may need to go 12-6 to get in though I think they get in at 11-7, especially if they beat us giving them another solid win. If you look at their remaining schedule, its not that challenging. They've already done the heavy lifting. If they beat us, they will easily win 6 more in my opinion.
Clemson has only lost twice since Christmans, at UNC and at UVa, big deal. They are one of the hottest teams in college basketball. Watching the pregame before Pitt/Louisville, Dan Dakich and the other announcer (forget who) were arguing because Dakich was pretty much saying Clemson was one of the best teams in college basketball given who they have beaten. I wouldn't go that far but they certainly have the "look" of a strong NCAA seed, 5, 6, 7 something like that.
But their RPI is so low, so I wondered why.
8-5 in the non-con certainly didn't help. They lost to 3 good SEC teams in December (SC, UGa, Bama), all with RPIs at 59 or better but also lost to UMass (171) and Minnesota (215) in November. Those 5 losses are very costly We all want Pitt to play a tougher schedule but Clemson has shown what could happen if you do. If you lose them all, which they did, you have to rip it up in conference, which they are doing.
Perhaps bigger for Clemson, was they scheduled their "guarantee" games very poorly. All 8 OOC wins have RPIs of 220 or worse and 3 have RPIs worse than 300. That is killing them
1-5 against Power 10 conference schools in the non-con (they beat Rutgers if you count them)
7-0 against teams with RPIs worse than 220
5-2 in the league with 5 wins over teams rated better than 52. Only losses at UNC, at UVa
Clemson is very good and this would be a great win if we can get it. If you're Clemson though, you probably need it worse than we do. They may need to go 12-6 to get in though I think they get in at 11-7, especially if they beat us giving them another solid win. If you look at their remaining schedule, its not that challenging. They've already done the heavy lifting. If they beat us, they will easily win 6 more in my opinion.
